Impeachment of judges: a brief historical and comparative analysis between Brazil and the United States of America

Abstract

This article aims to uncover some less known uses of the impeachment mechanism in Brazil and in the United States of America: judicial impeachment. On the one hand, it aims at discussing how impeachment relates to the removal of judges from public office in these two countries, namely when it comes to judges in the highest courts of the judicial branch (Supreme or Constitutional Court); on the other hand, the purpose is to discuss the connections between impeachment, judicial independence and accountability. The idea is to use comparative constitutional law methodology to address the historical background of impeachment and how it spread throughout different jurisdictions along the way before arriving in the Brazilian legal and constitutional scenario. In light of that, one of the most relevant sources will be found in precedents and legal doctrine regarding impeachment, with a significant focus on historical registers of its use and relation to judicial independence. The final objective is to test and investigate whether judicial impeachment can be seen or not as a mechanism that enhances judicial independence in countries that still adopt the practice, such as Brazil and the United States of America.